LEH Distributes $77,000 in Grants to Cultural Orgs
Jared Crosby builds a palmetto hut, as was done by Native Americans in South Louisiana for generations, at the Rougarou Fest Folklife Village. Photo by Zack Smith.
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, with support from the state of Louisiana, has awarded 19 Rebirth Grants totaling $77,000 to nonprofit cultural organizations in 11 parishes.
Rebirth Grants support humanities projects across Louisiana in a variety of formats, including community reading and discussion programs, documentary radio and digital humanities projects, publications of books and scholarly research about Louisiana, museum exhibitions and humanities-based educational opportunities for all.
The LEH believes that every corner of the state has important stories and histories to share. Rebirth Grants offer a helping hand to community organizations and leaders on the front lines of cultural preservation and engagement. Among the awarded projects this year is the expanded Folklife Village at the 2026 Rougarou Fest, which takes place October 23 through 25 in Houma.
The folklife village is a free, immersive area at the festival where the rich traditions of South Louisiana come to life with cultural demonstrations such as shrimp net making, boat building, and basket weaving; live interviews with tradition bearers, cultural experts, local cooks, and coastal scientists; interactive cooking demonstrations highlighting famous Louisiana foods; educational kids’ games, informational booths by Louisiana’s coastal organizations; and an inclusive French-speaking table to learn and speak Louisiana French.
“LEH’s support of the expanded Folklife Village at Rougarou Fest allows us to put our local tradition bearers at the heart of the festival,” said Jonathan Foret, Rougarou Fest chairman. “Their demonstrations give visitors an opportunity to experience our living culture firsthand while helping ensure these traditions are celebrated, shared, and passed on to future generations. We are deeply grateful to LEH for investing in the people and traditions that make our community unique.”
See the full list of recipients below:
Alexandria Museum of Art
Clementine Hunter from the Briton Family Collection and Related Programming
Alexandria, Rapides Parish
$5,000
Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge
Roots of the Reed: A Public Humanities Masterclass on Alvin Batiste and the Louisiana Jazz Tradition
Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish
$3,850
Baton Rouge Community College
Pages to Presence: A Public Reading and Discussion with the 2026 Ernest J. Gaines Award Winner
Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish
$5,000
Be Loud Studios
Be Loud Studios: Tremé Fest Speaks
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$5,000
BlackAmericana Fest
BlackAmericana Fest 2026: Roots of Rhythms Series
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$5,000
BODYART Connects
2026 Open Artist/Community Panel Series
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$4,000
Centenary College of Louisiana
Corrington Award for Literary Excellence — 2026
Shreveport, Caddo Parish
$2,500
Friends of Bayou Vermilion
Vermilionville’s Culture Days
Lafayette, Lafayette Parish
$4,975
Grant Parish Library
Digitizing Grant Parish and Other Louisiana History
Colfax, Grant Parish
$750
Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies, LSU New Orleans
Frenchmen Notes: 50 Years of Music History
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$5,000
Opelousas Museum & Interpretive Center
Opelousas, Up Close and Personal
Opelousas, St. Landry Parish
$5,000
Public Radio Inc. (WRKF)
The Living Legacies of Louisiana’s Maroon Communities
Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish
$1,725
South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center
Where Tradition Grows: The Expanded Folklife Village at Rougarou Fest
Houma, Terrebonne Parish
$5,000
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Remaking Revolution: History in Popular Culture
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$3,700
The Rapides Exploratory Education House, Inc.
From the Pot to the Plate: A Central Louisiana Food Culture Festival
Alexandria, Rapides Parish
$5,000
Twin City Art Foundation
Bernard Mattox Exhibition and Programming
Monroe, Ouachita Parish
$2,500
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Cross Currents: Improvised Truths—Curtis Patterson and the Jazz of Form
Lafayette, Lafayette Parish
$5,000
West Baton Rouge Museum
History of Prince Hall Grand Lodge exhibit
Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish
$5,000
Zydeco Historical & Preservation Society, Inc.
The Creole Memories Project
Opelousas, St. Landry Parish
$3,000